PAPERS

POLICY BACKGROUND PAPER

Although the Islamic State has lost nearly 98% of the territory it once controlled, the group is ripe for a comeback in Sunni-majority areas of Iraq and Syria. This resilience is explained by its capability to keep a substantial war chest; when it controlled territory, it amassed billions of dollars through extortion, taxation, robbery, and the…read more.

Policy Background Paper

NATO’s Resolute Support Mission is currently engaged in training, advising and assisting the Afghan security forces and institutions, in order to strengthen the state-building process and to enhance military capabilities of the national army to react against destabilising threats. The RSM’s presence is not limited to Kabul but is felt in different regions of the country (also in the Kandahar southern region and in the western region bordering Pakistan, where the…read more.

NATO Industry Relation:

The Jury Is Still Out

The dialogue between NATO and Industry focused on the promotion of an Industrial advisory role in a pre-competitive (or non-competitive) mode is over fifty years old. In this period many things have happened: we have seen the creation of organizational structures and procedures, witnessed moments of intense activity, moments of flatness…read more.

Hybrid WARFARE IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES

PRESENTATION FROM THE MAX WEBER INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP - "FEAR OF TROLLS AND LITTLE GREEN MAN. DOES HYBRID WARFARE WORK, FOR WHOM, AND WHEN?"

In 2005 British General Rupert Smith wrote that “War no longer exists”. He continued: “Confrontation, conflict and combat undoubtedly exist all around the world. […] Nonetheless, war as known to most non-combatants, war as battle in the field between men and machinery, war as a massive deciding event…read more.

NEW ARMIES FOR A NEW ERA. DECRYPTING POST-2011 ARAB MILITARY REFORMS: TREND FROM TUNISIA AND UNITED ARAB EMIRATES.

ARAB GEOPOLITICS Working Paper

The reaction of the Arab armies to the 2011 uprisings is a subject is a subject that has been frequently examined, but the evolution and reform of Arab armies is a neglected topic. In times of global interdependence, the Atlantic Alliance must be ready to understand and interact with the changing Middle East….read more.

Afghanistan After 2014 US Drawdown:

India’s Waiting Game

India’s long and continuous history with, and current legitimate interests in, Afghanistan precludes an exit strategy after the Western forces leave. This sentiment has become even stronger as the regime in Afghanistan changes and the US drawdown nears. Bereft of a regular involvement in the decision-making processes relating to the future of Afghanistan, India has crafted its own strategy, elaborated below, to deal with the post-2014 situation. It is based on continuing to develop its soft power strengths while looking…read more.

The Ukrainian crisis:

stalemate between bear and nightingale

Out of all the various geopolitical tensions and conflicts facing the transatlantic community and the Russian Federation on the world stage, the Ukrainian crisis – even if lately gradually overlooked and side-lined by the international media – continues to represent one of the main conundrums and sources of discord between an ever less cohesive West…read more.

Around the Belt and Road Initiative:

The emerging of a grand strategy

The article is a five-point reflection on the New Silk Road (i.e. BRI or OBOR). First point: It is, first of all, an indispensable missing land link in global trade missing for 300 years. Thus it is a very positive development. Why should anybody be against? Second point: The old continental theories of Mackinder and Spykman are of very limited relevance…read more.

Africa: A Laboratory for Security Cooperation with China?

AFRICA IN ACTION WORKING PAPER

In May 2018, the US accused China of pointing lasers at US military aircraft multiple times near Djibouti in East Africa, in what an analyst describes as “an act just short of war.” [See Daniel Brown, “These are China’s laser weapons that have reportedly been targeting US planes in ‘an act just short of war”,’Business Insider, May 4, 2018] Beijing denied these…read more.